Last webs of the year

After the thought of working Sunday, getting up to do my Webs count, it was emptying down, the rain and wind was hitting the window, I thought I need another coffee and for a second I thought I am turning into one of these fine weather birders and that has never been me. So I went straight to Abercwmboi Lake to get my last webs of the year done and has I got  there I noticed there was a white bird in the distant. At a glance I thought that swan has got a long neck and it was only when I picked my bins up I thought with a neck like that it has to be Great White Egret. The Grey Heron with it kept chasing it off and it was getting a bit closer each time. I phoned Phil and I expected to hear him say we are down Porthcawl and there are birds everywhere but I was surprised to hear he was home. He said he was putting his willies on and was coming up for the Egret straight away. I know they are  getting more common but still a big one for the valleys. It was like the Great Spotted Cuckoo all over again, the egret took off a couple of times and I was thinking how I am going tell him it's flew off. When he finally turned up he told me he had walked through the stream and filled his willies in the process, boy was I relieved when he got there and it was still present. The egret seemed  to be quite settled so we carried on doing my webs. It was great the 15 Mute Swans were still on the lake we also had two flocks of Little Grebes (16 in total) fly in, it takes some getting use to seeing them in a flock. There were 36 Coot, 16 Moorhen, 25 Mallard and my first Tufted Duck of the winter. To finish  there were two Greylag Geese and two Cormorant and it was all done for another year .

 I went back at one pm in between showers and I photographed the swans. The Egret popped out in the back of the reeds and carried on feeding so I went back to the swans and just I turned around the egret took off and flew right over me and boy was I glad he did not white wash me as he went over. As I stood there I could still see the egret feeding to my left when I also heard a Water Rail calling, it's been a long time since I heard one here last.